If I could, this would be the text of mine that I would most like you to read.

I first saw you in 2001 or 2002, I can’t recall exactly, at that time with Sporting CP’s B team. 

You were around 16 years old, and I was 14. 

In that team, several players were already standing out, the stars of the time, relatively well known to the public, like: Carlos Martins, Paulo Sérgio, Edgar Marcelino, Osório, Paíto, Valdir, among others. 

I distinctly remember two moments from that game: Paulo Sérgio’s goal, with a beautiful chip, and the moment you were substituted in the second half. I remember that moment because, being the first time I saw you and knowing you were (by far) the youngest on the field, you had an attitude that I didn’t fully understand. When you were substituted, you chose to walk around the entire pitch – the only way to avoid passing by your team’s bench – and went straight to the locker room. 

I remember thinking: “What arrogance and lack of respect for your teammates!”

Many of us made that mistake. 

The mistake of judging you without understanding your essence. 

The mistake of not realizing that your will to win and be decisive in victory is the greatest example – in a sports context, particularly in Football – that we have ever witnessed in the history of Portugal and the world.

The mistake of thinking that your career was solely the result of your dedication and hard work.

No. 

What a big mistake! 

You were, and are, the greatest talent we have ever had in Portugal. 

But that talent wouldn’t have been enough for you to have the career you’ve had. 

And you, intelligent as you are, realized that early on and combined your unparalleled dedication and hard work with your talent, to become one of the greatest ever in Football.

Many still make that mistake. 

They still don’t understand your impact, what you’ve done. 

They forget that, for today’s idols like Mbappé or Haaland, to reach your level, they have to score more than 50 goals per season for the next 10 years… 

They have to win 5 Champions League titles, 5 Ballon d’Ors, nearly a dozen National Championships, among many other collective and individual titles…

But time passes, and your ability to be decisive has diminished, as it always does with all of us. 

In fact, we’ve been so used to seeing you as a superhero that we’ve lost sight of the fact that you are, after all, human.

But you, in all truth, haven’t changed. 

The 16-year-old boy who, in the world of grown-ups, didn’t want to be substituted, or didn’t want to stop being the one to score, dribble, be the star, hasn’t disappeared.

He is still there, unchanged. 

That’s why you cry when you don’t win the Emir Cup in Saudi Arabia, or react the way you did in the Saudi Super Cup final. Many will think: “You, of all people, who have won so many Champions League titles! Why does this matter?” 

They are the same ones who haven’t understood you from the start.

Today, I am thankful that you were born this way. 

Because if you weren’t like this, nothing would have been the way it was. 

And I, selfish as always, would never have seen what I saw.

Thank you is the least I can say.

But, Cristiano, I also need to tell you this: what you did wasn’t right. 

And you, with the look that your experience now carries, know that you didn’t do well.

It might be stronger than you, sometimes, because in essence you’re still you. 

I know. 

But if anyone has proven that they can be the best, even in setting examples, it’s always been you.

Protect yourself, that would be the advice I would like to give you. 

From everything and everyone. 

Cristiano, the Football player, will retire one day. 

But you will continue your life, somehow, differently.

Because deep down, I know this isn’t the Cristiano I’ll keep in my memory forever. 

But above all, this isn’t the example, nor the Cristiano that we all want our children to remember.

As I wrote at the beginning, this would be the text of mine that I would most like you to read.

A sincere hug.